Hype is an essential part of the NFL draft.All of the analysis throughout the process is building up or tearing down what a player is capable of doing, but every team believes it has the right formula to turn anyone into a valuable piece of the future who will help them win a Super Bowl.One drawback of hype, especially for the 32 players who will become first-round picks on April 27, is even if a player is successful, they have to be one of the very best in the NFL to justify what was said about them leading up to the draft.Looking at the latest 2017 NFL mock draft, hype has swallowed a lot of these players up and they will be tasked with all the pressure of living up to it.Leonard Fournette, RB (Predicted to Carolina Panthers)Even though Leonard Fournette will not become the first running back to go No. 1 overall since Ki-Jana Carter in 1995, he is going to be the most scrutinized player in this class because of his profile.Offensive players tend to get placed under a magnified lens because so much of the NFL is controlled by fantasy football.Fournette has been earmarked for NFL superstardom dating back to high school. He was the nation's top recruit coming out of high school in 2014 and was a consensus All-American as a sophomore, when he ran for 1,953 yards and 22 touchdowns.Last year was the first time Fournette dealt with significant adversity. He only played in seven games, though he still broke the 1,000-yard barrier and scored 10 touchdowns.Coming out of LSU's pro day, B/R's Matt Miller noted Fournette did what he needed to do in front of NFL scouts:Fournetteweighed in at a chiseled 228 pounds after coming in at 240 at the combine. Fournette didn't run or do agility drillsin fact he hasn't been timed in the three-cone, short shuttle or any other agility workouts this yearbut he did impress during positional workouts. Fournette also ran routes and caught passes with the wide receivers, and one NFL coach texted me that Fournette "looked natural" catching the ball.As long as Fournette is in shape and healthy, which he appears to be, he becomes one of the most sought-after commodities in the draft.The Carolina Panthers are a perfect fit for Fournette. Jonathan Stewart is 30 years old and has averaged 4.1 yards or less per carry in four of the last five seasons. Cam Newton needs more help around him to avoid taking so many big hits if he wants to have a long career.Fournette won't be Ezekiel Elliott 2.0 because the Panthers don't have the same caliber offensive line as the Dallas Cowboys. He will have to do a lot of work making plays on his own, but it's not like he had a great deal of help from LSU's offense over the past three years.Rookie Projection: 235 carries, 1,100 yards and six touchdownsMyles Garrett, DE (Predicted to Cleveland Browns)It's not often that the consensus best player in the draft manages to exceed those expectations during the workout process, yet Myles Garrett managed to do just that.During the NFL Scouting Combine, you could practically hear scouts drooling as Garrett was on the field in Indianapolis.Here's what Miller wrote about Garrett right after his dazzling combine performance:Garrett tore the combine in half like an old phonebook this weekend. The 272-pounder ran the 40-yard dash in 4.64 seconds. He benched 33 reps, second among defensive linemen to Auburn's Carl Lawson. He crushed the vertical and broad jumps and breezed through position drills. He faced the press with quick wit and aplomb; by all accounts, he did the same during team interviews.So this is a no-brainer for the Browns. No Moneyball trades. No quarterback reaches. Call Garrett's agent and start the negotiations now.In true Browns fashion, ESPN's Adam Schefter noted the team is split on drafting Garrett or quarterback Mitchell Trubisky. (This mock works out perfectly for them, since they get both players with their two first-round picks.)Garrett had an interesting visit to ESPN earlier this week when he responded to this question from Ryen Russillo about not wanting to appear on a show with SEC Network analyst Booger McFarland:It's not worth overreacting to now, but there will be plenty of criticism directed at Garrett early in his NFL career if he's not recording at least 10 sacks in a season. It took 2014 No. 1 overall pick Jadeveon Clowney three years in the league to turn around the narrative about him.Because of Garrett's freakish natural talent and production at collegehe had 47 tackles for loss and 31 sacks in three seasons at Texas A&Mhe will help lead the turnaround in Cleveland. It will take time before the Browns are relevant, but they will be more interesting with him on the defensive line.Rookie Projection: 6.5 sacks, three passes defensedJohn Ross, WR (Predicted to Tennessee Titans)There have been players who turned into first-round picks because of a blazing 40-yard dash. During the late 2000s, the Oakland Raiders seemingly tried to build an entire team of combine speed demons.John Ross was already a strong first-round prospect before the combine. He solidified his status by setting a new combine record with this run:Despite that speed, Ross is still fighting to be the top wide receiver in the 2017 class with Western Michigan's Corey Davis and Clemson's Mike Williams. The Washington star lacks the physical presence of those two players, coming in at 5'11" and 188 pounds, per NFL.com.Ross also missed the entire 2015 season with a torn ACL, giving him an injury red flag.Because of those quibbles, Ross ends up being the third wide receiver taken in this mock. He ends up with the best quarterback of the trio, playing with the Tennessee Titans and Marcus Mariota.Pro Football Focus also pointed out Ross is more than just a pure speed player:He knows how to get open using his footwork and can beat press coverage off the line with both his feet and his hands. He catches the ball consistently and once it's in his hands, there's very few better at seeing the field and finding open space. Ross can line up all over the field and make plays.Wide receiver is a position the Titans need to address. Rishard Matthews had 945 yards and nine touchdowns, nearly twice as many yards as the No. 2 receiver on the team (Tajae Sharpe, 522 yards).Mariota has plenty of arm strength to take advantage of Ross' speed down the field. The Titans were on the fringes of playoff contention last season without a lot of dynamic playmakers on the outside.Ross would give Mariota the big-play threat he needs to become a top-tier quarterback and push the Titans ahead of the quarterback-desperate Houston Texans in the AFC South.Rookie Projection: 40 receptions, 650 yards, four touchdowns
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